Lebanon's parliament voted on Tuesday to abolish the death penalty, making the country the first in the Middle East to formally eliminate capital punishment from its legal code. A majority of the 128-seat chamber backed the measure, with the notable exception of the parliamentary bloc aligned with Hezbollah, which voted against it. The legislation will now pass through cabinet before reaching President Joseph Aoun for signature — a step considered a formality, as the government has already publicly expressed its support.

The new law replaces capital punishment with life imprisonment with hard labour, though the precise mechanisms for enforcing the sentence remain to be clarified. Questions have already been raised by legal experts about the newly introduced category of "aggravated hard labour" for crimes committed after the law takes effect — a term some lawmakers argue has no existing basis in the Lebanese penal code. Rights organisations, meanwhile, have flagged concerns about the retention of hard labour as a concept, arguing it no longer aligns with modern human rights standards.

Lebanon had not carried out an execution since 17 January 2004, when three men were put to death, but courts had continued to issue death sentences throughout the intervening years. Between 78 and 85 people are estimated to remain on death row, with a sentence reportedly handed down as recently as the day before the vote. The legislation named after Walid Slaiby — a prominent non-violence advocate who helped launch the abolition campaign in 1997 — follows nearly three decades of civil society organising. Earlier parliamentary attempts to abolish the death penalty, in 2004 and 2012, never reached a final vote. "We cannot solve a crime with a crime or end violence with violence," said Oragit Younan, co-founder of the Lebanese Association for Civil Rights, who led much of the campaign.

The decision drew swift international praise. The United Nations human rights chief, Volker Türk, called it "a powerful and principled commitment to the right to life" and urged Lebanon's neighbours to follow suit. The European Union said Lebanon was "setting a powerful example for other countries in the Middle East and beyond," while France — Lebanon's former colonial power — called the vote "historic and courageous." Justice Minister Adel Nassar noted a practical dimension: countries that have abolished the death penalty often refuse to extradite suspects to jurisdictions where it is still applied, a barrier that had at times complicated Lebanese requests for the return of fugitives.

The regional context underscores the significance of the move. Iran has carried out hundreds of executions in recent months, with the UN expressing alarm at their use to suppress dissent. Jordan resumed executions in June after a nine-year pause, and Israel's parliament earlier this year passed legislation expanding the circumstances in which the death penalty can be imposed. Amnesty International welcomed Lebanon's vote but urged authorities to formally commute all existing death sentences and ratify the key international treaty on abolition, while pressing for broader reforms to address overcrowded prisons and a justice system that rights groups say requires deeper structural change.